I saw Secretatriat today, and while I wouldn't say it is a great film, it was entertaining. Highest marks go to the sound track for including both the Staple Singers singing "I'll Talk You Their" and the Edwin Hawkins Singers performing "Oh Happy Day". And the songs went really well with the scenes they accompanied. As expected, Diane Lane does a great job portraying Penny Chenery, Secretariat's owner. The Horse who portrays Secretariat does a great job also, but he does not seem to be credited.
[Added 10/12/10: I see from this Slate article that it was actually ten horses who played Secretariat.]
Almost more entertaining than the film though is the brawl that erupted last week over the film between Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com and Roger Ebert. O'Hehir wrote a review ripping the film and comparing it to Nazi propaganda. Then Ebert wrote a scathing retort implying that the original review was insane, and O'Hehir responded back. I have to say that I agree mostly with Ebert. Sometimes a movies about a horse is just a movie about a horse. I mean it is a Disney film after all, not exactly a major source of social criticism. Here are the articles.
O'Hehir's review
Ebert's response
O'Hehir's rebuttal
Here is video of the real Secretariat winning the Belmont stakes followed by the trailer for the movie.
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